Early Media Impressions of TGs
Footprints from the Past
By
Andee
W
Part 2 (if you missed last month's installment try
this link to Part
1)
First let me send thanks to all who emailed me
words of encouragement; as Cindy's new columnist I
want to maintain the high standards we have here.
There is a great tendency in our generation to
believe we are the first ones to walk the path of
transgender discovery and have it so prominently
displayed in the media. Yet when we look hard at
the written records from the past we are able to
discern what appear to be the footprints of those
who have walked this way before.
As the end of the last century approached,
periodicals and newspapers were thriving and always
on the prowl for items that would interest and
entertain their readership. The "corset
controversy" and "tight-lacing" were subjects that
elicited many letters to the editor, and quite a
few were from men who related their crossdressing
experiences. One popular magazine of this era was
Society, which was published in the UK from 1879 to
1900. In last month's Footprints installment I
related a letter from a young man from Dublin who
had to fill in for a sick sister as a bridesmaid,
and was then treated like one of the girls. This
month's letters are also from Society. The first,
entitled Satin Waist, was published in September
1899.
"My sister and I live in a very quiet place, and
a great deal of the days are spent in looking after
stock, etc. Very often I am on my feet all day, and
come in at night fagged and footsore. It is then
that the real comfort of a satin corset fitting
like a glove is experienced. At first I merely wore
the stays under my ordinary clothes, but after a
while, my sister decided that it would be much
better to complete my outfit, and I was forthwith
initiated into a bewildering mass of lace-trimmed
undergarments. Now when my day's work is over, I
have a hot bath, and come down to dinner a
different being, and enjoying myself thoroughly,
generally wearing a plain, tight-fitting costume in
black satin."
Society seemed to be on a roll with the
crossdressing theme, and over the next few months
had quite a few letters on the subject. This one is
from the spring of 1900, entitled Tablier Blanc,
and was written from the perspective someone
unemployed who found more than just a new job.
"I have lived as a woman for the last two years,
and am doing so still, so it may interest your
readers if I give you a glimpse of my experience. I
have always had a great penchant for dressing in
girl's clothes - many of your correspondents appear
to have the same - and one evening my sister
suggested to me that I should apply - as a girl -
for a vacant situation as a barmaid at the
restaurant where she was employed. This I secured,
and, thanks to a slim figure, small hands and feet,
and dark curly hair, I do not think my sex has ever
even been suspected."
The last letter this month was published in the
next Society issue of 1900. It is entitled Martyr,
and is about a young man's Victorian adoption
experience.
"I was adopted when young by a lady of
considerable wealth who was devoted to dress and
fashion. I was just fourteen when this lady - who,
in a year's time was to travel abroad - decided,
partly I think out of caprice, partly for
convenience sake, to take me with her disguised as
a girl. I dare say she was influenced by my
effeminate appearance and complexion, and slender
slight figure. A fashionable dressmaker was
consulted, and I was furnished with a large outfit
of garments of the latest fashion and most dainty
cut and material. In particular, great care was
taken over my figure. I had of course to wear false
hair, until my own grew long, and I was most
carefully instructed in ladylike manners and
deportment. When we went abroad, my dainty
complexion and hands, very smartly shod feet, and
extremely slim waist, and well moulded figure, were
the objects of much adoration and envy. There was
not the slightest danger of anyone suspecting that
the pretty well-dressed girl, apparently of about
sixteen, was really an unfortunate boy. I had to
endure three years of this bondage, and became so
soft and effeminate that, when the death of the
lady who adopted me made me independent, I went
back to the garb and habits of my own sex with
reluctance and difficulty."
I hope you enjoyed reading these short letters,
and will look forward to continuing installments
that progress from the turn of the century to the
modern era.
Andee is married with two children and
lives outside Washington DC. You can send her email at
AndeeW@aol.com.
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